What does the State Bar of Texas do for
the public?

Do my taxes pay for the State Bar of
Texas?

No. The State Bar is completely self-funded. The State Bar receives
no tax dollars and is not a part of the state appropriations
process.

The State Bar of Texas is funded through membership dues, continuing
legal education fees, sales of books and legal forms, advertising
income from the Texas Bar Journal, advertising income from our
website Texasbar.com, and more.

What does "bar" mean?

It also means the place where the business of court is done. Bar in
this sense had become synonymous with "court" by 1330.

In 1559 bar literally meant the railing that separated
people on the bench from those conducting law on the other side.

After 1600 bar was popularly assumed to mean the "bar" in a
courtroom, which was the wooden railing marking off the area around the
judge's seat and where a barrister stood to plead his prisoner's case.